Woman's Bites On Arms Start Moving, Learns She Has Maggots Inside

By: Mackenzie Wright | April 12, 2019

A woman from the UK just returned home from vacation and thought she was suffering from some pesky bug bites. She initially ignored it, but when things got bad she went to the doctor. The doctor reassured her that they were just bug bites, prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection and sent her on her way.

By the next day, however, the woman realized things were much worse than she thought.

The unnamed 46-year-old woman had been visiting the Ivory Coast, where she apparently came into contact with the tumbu fly. These exotic insects don't just bite you; they lay eggs on damp clothes.

If the clothing brushes up against human skin, the larvae will burrow their way in.

The woman returned to the doctor aft she started experiencing terrible pain and felt some kind of movement. Medics examined her bites more closely and noticed something was 'wiggling' inside the open sores.

When the doctor squeezed a sore, it expelled a few tumbu fly maggots, much to the woman's horror. The larvae had hatched beneath the woman's skin.

The maggots, once hatched, begin gnawing their way out of their host's flesh. This is why the woman's wounds were so painful: she was being eaten alive from the inside-out. The tissue surrounding the bites was raw and deeply irritated.

While some of the insects were closer to the surface, others were embedded so deeply that they could not be squeezed out. Doctors had to remove the maggots surgically.

Had doctors missed one of the disgusting creatures, it would have eventually chomped its way out of her skin and fell to the floor. There, it would have laid its own eggs, putting the woman (and others) at risk.

These kinds of creatures are common in Africa. Doctors say the best way to avoid them is to make sure you fully dry any clothing before putting them on.

Stick them in the drier, or give the garment a good ironing. The heat will kill the eggs and prevent infection.